Back when we were merely vegetarian, we used to like to frequent Pick Up Stix, a Pan-Asian fast-ish food chain that’s starting to expand across Southern California. They were always pretty accomodating, as you could substitute tofu in any dish and they were one of the few places you could get steamed brown rice with your meal.

We haven’t eaten there since I went vegan mostly because I didn’t trust anything that I couldn’t get ingredients lists for online or otherwise readily available. Mind you, we never went in to a place to ask about ingredients but I’m still getting my restaurant legs about me. This weekend I sent an inquisitive email via their website, asking about vegan options, sauce ingredients, etc. What they sent back is hideously boilerplate, but I guess if I really want to eat lemon tofu then I’ll have to go in and ask. Here’s their reply:

Dear miharu:

Thank you for contacting Guest Relations.

As healthy eating continues to diversify, Pick Up Stix restaurants understand our guests have different nutritional desires.

Pick Up Stix food is prepared fresh to order, by recipe, and therefore the nutritional information may vary slightly with on site preparation. Also, each Pick Up Stix guest may also customize their meal to suit their taste. Although our policies and procedures warrant full control, there is always a possibility of ingredient substitution when preparing your meal with the freshest ingredients available. The manager of the location you visit may be able to provide details on sauces.

Pick Up Stix guests, like yourself, expect our high standard of great taste, innovation, and value. Watch our menu as we expand our offerings even more or visit www.pickupstix.com

We appreciate your interest in our Pick Up Stix restaurants.

Jonie
Guest Relations

Huh and the what, now?

I’ve been gone for a while, and so has my motivation to cook. Thank you, Amy’s brand, for having my back… and making it expand a little bit. In the time since the move, I decided that I simply have too much time on my hands so I joined a roller derby league. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find non-leather speed skate boots? That goes double for high end ones that aren’t made in a sweatshop. (If you know something that I don’t about the high end boots, let me know.)

But you’re here for the food. And I’m without pictures, but I made the plain cream cheese and the garlic dill cream cheese from How It All Vegan. They’re both sitting in the fridge, settling. They both seem, at the moment, to be super soft and maybe a little sweet.

This is my fault. I decided to split a 12 oz silken tofu between them when each recipe calls for a cup of the stuff. So your mileage may vary. Also, the motor on our blender is starting to give out, so the plain ended up a little more cashew chunky than I’d like. However, the real test will be putting it on an onion bagel from Trader Joe’s tomorrow morning and giving it the whatfor.